Chris Hansen has seen “Primetime,” and he gave Robert Pattinson’s performance as him a D. The former “To Catch a Predator” host watched the A24 thriller in Times Square, then dissected it on his podcast and in a conversation with Fox News host Jesse Watters. He repeatedly called the film largely fictional, loosely tied to the Dateline NBC series he fronted from 2004 to 2007.
His verdict ends months of public sparring. Hansen said he was never consulted on the film and criticized its trailers, which cast him in an ominous light. He also said he had spoken with lawyers about Pattinson’s portrayal. Even so, he once conceded that his family considers it “a pretty good imitation.”
Pattinson has taken a gentler line. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered Sept. 5 to a seven-minute standing ovation, he said, “Obviously, I hope he likes the movie.” He described Hansen as magnetic on screen and credited his hyper-serious delivery with making the original series compelling.
Director Lance Oppenheim, making his narrative feature debut, set the story in 2006 as Hansen turns the pursuit of suspected child predators into television. The script draws on a 2007 Esquire article. Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Bokeem Woodbine and Anna Faris star alongside Pattinson, and singer Phoebe Bridgers makes her acting debut as a decoy.
The dispute has not hurt ticket sales. “Primetime” opened Sept. 25 with $19.2 million from 2,863 theaters, A24’s third-best debut, behind “Backrooms” and “Civil War.” The film cost a reported $15 million. Gen Z viewers made up 69 percent of the opening crowd, and over three-quarters of those surveyed named Pattinson as their main reason for buying a ticket.
Hansen has found his own use for the attention. He promoted his true-crime network, TruBlu, around screenings, according to one report, and mentioned a documentary he cooperated with, “I’m Chris Hansen,” which is currently seeking a buyer. A24 released a camera test Oct. 8 showing Pattinson locking into Hansen’s clipped speech.
